Everything You Need to Know About China's Economy on Monday (March 18)
Your Daily & Trustworthy Updates on the Chinese Economy
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Good Monday! This is TIAN in Beijing.
Welcome to monitor the pulse of China’s economy together with me.
DRIVING THE DAY, CNBC reported that China kicks off the year on strong note as retail, industrial data tops expectations. FT also said China’s industrial production jumps.
IN DETAIL, data from the National Bureau of Statisticsshowed Monday that:
China's industrial production picked up pace in the first two months of 2024, accompanied by faster growth in the high-tech manufacturing and the consumer goods manufacturing sectors.
The value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 7 percent year on year during the January-February period of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
The growth accelerated 0.2 percentage points from December 2023, according to the NBS. On a monthly basis, industrial output edged up 0.56 percent in February from the previous month.
China's fixed-asset investment went up 4.2 percent year on year in the first two months of this year, 1.2 percentage points higher than the full-year growth rate of 2023.
The investment totaled 5.0847 trillion yuan (about 717 billion U.S. dollars) in January and February combined, the bureau said in a statement.
Manufacturing investment rose 9.4 percent year on year during the period, accelerating by 2.9 percentage points from that of 2023. Investment in infrastructure construction rose 6.3 percent from a year ago, 0.4 percentage points higher than that of last year.
China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, climbed 5.5 percent year on year in the first two months of 2024.
The growth was compared with an increase of 3.5 percent registered during the January-February period of 2023. Retail sales in the country's urban regions rose 5.5 percent year on year during the period, while that in rural areas expanded 5.8 percent.
Online retail sales jumped 15.3 percent year on year, with online retail sales of physical goods expanding 14.4 percent and accounting for 22.4 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.
Investment in property development in China fell 9 percent year on year to 1.1842 trillion yuan (about 167 billion U.S. dollars) in the first two months of 2024.
Investment in the sector maintained a falling trend as sales of newly built property also fell 20.5 percent year on year in terms of floor area to 113.69 million square meters in the same period.
In terms of value, sales of newly built property fell 29.3 percent year on year to 1.0566 trillion yuan, the data showed.
The decline in investment in the first two months had narrowed by 0.6 percentage points from the 9.6 percent drop in 2023, NBS spokesperson Liu Aihua told a press conference.
China's service sector registered faster growth in the first two months of 2024, with an official production index up 5.8 percent year on year. The increase quickened from the 5.5-percent growth rate seen in the same period of 2023.
In breakdown, the accommodation and catering sector reported the largest uptick of 12.1 percent, followed by information transmission, software and IT services of 10.4 percent. The financial sector also logged a robust increase of 8.2 percent, and transportation, warehousing and postal services went up 7.1 percent. The wholesale and retail sales were up by 7 percent.
In February, another index measuring business activities of the service sector stood at 51 percent, up 0.9 percentage points from January.
The surveyed urban unemployment rate on average in China stood at 5.3 percent in the first two months of 2024.
China's employment situation was generally stable during the period. In February alone, the country's surveyed urban unemployment rate came in at 5.3 percent, 0.1 percentage points higher from January, but 0.3 percentage points lower than the same period of 2023.
The figure for 31 major Chinese cities stood at 5.1 percent, and that for rural migrant workers hit 4.8 percent, according to the data.
ALSO ON MONDAY, China's central bank issued an e-CNY (digital yuan) user guide, the latest move aimed at facilitating mobile payment for foreigners.
Mobile phone users can search for "e-CNY" in the App Store or Google Play to download and install the digital yuan app, and tap the "Sign up" option to register an account, according to a bilingual statement from the People's Bank of China.
Next, click "Open/Add e-CNY Wallets" and select any authorized operator that supports international services to complete the registration process and start using e-CNY wallet(s), the statement explained.
The e-CNY wallet can be registered using mobile phone numbers from over 210 countries and regions, according to the central bank statement.
IN TODAY'S FINANCIAL MARKET,
Shanghai Composite Index Rose 0.99% on Monday
China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (000001.SH) gained 0.99% on Monday, while the Shenzhen Component Index (399001.SZ) rose 1.46%.
Shanghai’s tech-heavy STAR 50 Index (000688.SH) gained 2.07% for the day, while Shenzhen’s similar ChiNext Index (399006.SZ) rose 2.25%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closes 0.1 pct higher
Hong Kong's stock market ended higher on Monday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index up 0.1 percent to close at 16,737.12 points.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.48 percent to end at 5,848.15 points, and the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 1.25 percent to close at 3,594.22 points.
Chinese yuan strengthens to 7.0943 against USD Monday
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 32 pips to 7.0943 against the U.S. dollar Monday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
China's benchmark interbank gold prices mixed Monday
According to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, the benchmark price for gold that is 99.95 percent pure or above stood at 500 yuan (about 70.48 U.S. dollars) per gram, down 4.06 yuan from the previous trading day, while the price for gold that is 99.99 percent pure or above rose 1.92 yuan from the previous trading day to 507.12 yuan.
China's central bank adds liquidity via reverse repos
China's central bank conducted 10 billion yuan (about 1.41 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 percent Monday.
The move aims to keep liquidity in the banking system reasonable and ample, the People's Bank of China said in a statement.
AT THE END OF TODAY'S SHARING, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR DAILY FUTURES:
Cotton futures closed higher Monday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange.
The most active cotton contract for May 2024 delivery gained 115 yuan (about 16.21 U.S. dollars) to close at 16,090 yuan per tonne.
On Monday, the total trading volume for six listed cotton futures contracts on the ZCE was 491,297 lots with a turnover of 39.64 billion yuan.
Sugar futures closed higher Monday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange.
The most active sugar contract for May 2024 delivery gained 45 yuan (6.34 U.S. dollars) to close at 6,556 yuan per tonne.
On Monday, the total trading volume for six listed sugar futures contracts on the ZCE was 387,725 lots with a turnover of 25.28 billion yuan.
Iron ore futures closed higher on Monday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
The most active iron ore contract for May 2024 delivery gained 7.5 yuan (about 1.06 U.S. dollars) to close at 803 yuan per tonne.
On Monday, the total trading volume of 12 listed iron ore futures contracts on the exchange was 901,938 lots, with a turnover of about 69.87 billion yuan.
No.1 soybean futures closed lower on Monday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
The most active No.1 soybean contract for May 2024 delivery dipped 4 yuan (about 56 U.S. cents) to close at 4,777 yuan per tonne.
On Monday, the total trading volume of six listed No.1 soybean futures contracts on the exchange was 114,903 lots, with a turnover of about 5.47 billion yuan.
About the Newsletter:
Ran by TIAN Dongdong, this newsletter features daily, trustworthy content on China's economy and regularly updates the insights of Chinese youth on Sino-US relations. Having worked in Brussels, London, Cairo, and Tripoli for Chinese media as correspondent for several years, TIAN is now based in Beijing.